Looking for lightswitches

[jphebert]

Hi everybody,

Going to buy a Zee-S2 and the 1st thing I wish to automate is lighting in the house. Going to need some dimmables & non-dimmables - what do I need to look for and/or avoid for Z-Wave? (specs/brands/etc).

Am new and prefer a win out of the gates as my wife will be watching - am sure you understand

Thanks!

[rmasonjr]

Heh. Thats known as the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) around here.

I still have a bunch of Intermatic switches and will be replacing them with the HomeSeer flavors as they age-out. Some are many years old.

If you have 2 wires in your switch box, you'll need a dimmer switch and a compatible LED bulb if you are going LED. For switches, you'll need a neutral in the box.

[jphebert]

Heh. Thats known as the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) around here.

I still have a bunch of Intermatic switches and will be replacing them with the HomeSeer flavors as they age-out. Some are many years old.

If you have 2 wires in your switch box, you'll need a dimmer switch and a compatible LED bulb if you are going LED. For switches, you'll need a neutral in the box.

Thanks - noted for the WAF part. Good to know the lingo!

Any brands I should look at (or stay away from), considering HomeSeer, GE & Leviton.

If Canadian readers see this - best place to buy for price?

[sparkman]

Thanks - noted for the WAF part. Good to know the lingo!

Any brands I should look at (or stay away from), considering HomeSeer, GE & Leviton.

If Canadian readers see this - best place to buy for price?

I use Leviton Vizia RF+ but bought them in the US when the exchange rate was much better and shipping prices from the US to Canada were still reasonable. Now I typically buy my HA equipment from aartech.ca. They also sell the HomeSeer branded products. Leviton has a newer cheaper line of switches (DZC series) but they don't support instant status. This is where the switch notifies HS of a change made at the switch. Typically the cheaper switches don't support instant status. If I was buying new now, I'd buy the HS branded switches which are ZWave+ and do support instant status and the central scene class.

Cheers
Al

[rmasonjr]

I should have also mentioned:

The Intermatic switches have an annoying high-pitched 'click' when locally controlled. My wife probably doesnt mind it or hasnt noticed it, but it really annoys me

[Guest]

I buy alot from these guys. They sell a fair bit of HS3 stuff.
https://www.aartech.ca/zwave-wall-switches
Although I have coopers, the new HS3 ones look pretty compelling!
Homeseer WS100+ Zwave Plus On Off Wall Switch

[jphebert]

Question - should I worry about "scenes" being managed by the dimmers or not? As am reading seeing stuff and want to clear it for the WAF variable.

Am I right to assume that the controller handles this piece and not worry about the rest?